Tools
Claude (claude.ai) or Claude Code
Price
Included in your Claude plan
Time
5 min
Level
Beginner

The anthropics/skills repository holds Anthropic's example skills. For a business owner, the most useful are docx (Word), xlsx (Excel), pptx (PowerPoint) and pdf. You will also find doc-coauthoring, which guides you through writing a proposal or a memo by asking questions first, and skill-creator, which helps you build your own skills.

In Claude (web or app)

  1. Turn on code executionOpen Settings > Capabilities and turn on Code execution and file creation. Skills need it to create files.
  2. Pick your skillsGo to Customize > Skills and turn on the ones you need. On a Team or Enterprise plan, the account owner first allows them in the organization settings.
  3. Ask for a fileClaude picks the skill on its own from your request. An example to copy:
    Prompt
    Create an Excel file to track my quotes: columns Number, Client, Date sent, Amount excl. tax, Status (dropdown: sent, accepted, declined), Follow-up date (= date sent + 7 days). Add a total row for accepted quotes.

In Claude Code

  1. Add Anthropic's catalogIn a Claude Code session, register the repository as a "marketplace" (a catalog of extensions).
    Claude Code
    /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
  2. Install the document packThe command opens the pack's details: read what it adds, then choose the scope (for you in every folder, or for this project only).
    Claude Code
    /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
  3. Apply and checkIf Claude Code asks for it, run /reload-plugins. Then type /: the pack's skills show up in the list. The other examples install the same way with example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills.

Good to know

  • The README says these skills are provided "for demonstration and educational purposes": test them on your own cases before trusting them with an important document.
  • Licenses: most example skills are Apache 2.0, but docx, xlsx, pptx and pdf are "source-available", governed by your agreement with Anthropic: readable, but not open source.
  • Always check the file you get: figures, formulas and legal notices remain your responsibility.

Be careful with skills. A skill can contain scripts that run. Claude's help center says to install skills only from trusted sources, and to review those from a less trusted source before turning them on: bundled files, dependencies, connections to outside sites. Anthropic's official repository is github.com/anthropics/skills; beware of copies.

Sources

Need these files to fill themselves in, say a quote generated from a web form? That is an automation I can set up.